Odessa High senior guard Isaac Hernandez showed why he’s District 2-6A’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year Tuesday night at Chaparral Center.

With his team leading 33-26 late in the first half, Hernandez scored 15 straight points for the Bronchos over the second and third quarters to help them pull away from Lee for a 76-61 victory.

Hernandez finished with a team-high 20 points for OHS (21-6, 5-1 in District 2-6A), including 11 straight – highlighted by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer – to close the second quarter and hand the Bronchos an 18-point halftime lead.

Freshman guard Zhuric Phelps netted a game-high 21 points for Lee (7-21, 0-6), which dropped its 11th consecutive contest and now must prepare for a tilt with archrival Midland High at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Odessa High head boys basketball coach Jance Morris said offensively, everything starts with Hernandez. He added the Bronchos didn’t have the sort of start to the game he was hoping for, but Hernandez did his part to spark them into gear.

“We kind of started slow offensively and I thought we weren’t attacking,” Morris said. “We called a timeout, talked to them and just said ‘Just go. Just attack gaps’ and once they start doing that, it all starts with Isaac. It opens so much up for the other players and he led the way.”

Added Hernandez, who facilitated crisp ball movement that got nine other of his teammates into the scorer’s book: “I’m the point guard, I control the game and I control what we’ve got to do. I know I’m going to have to drive it in to help my team out and if I’m not getting points, I’m looking for a man who’s open. The ball was in everybody’s hands, moving faster than man.”

After missing its first four shots of the night, OHS answered with six straight made baskets to take an early lead. But thanks to timely outside shooting, the Rebels hung around and trailed just 19-13 after the first quarter.

Midway through the second, Lee picked up some momentum with a Phelps trey and a steal and breakaway layup by Jaythan Jones to slash the deficit to seven points.

But Hernandez had had enough.

The Bronchos gobbled up rebounds and got into their transition offense with ease, setting up Hernandez with a slew of finishes in the paint, a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from the top of the key just before the halftime buzzer.

“He hit that shot at the buzzer that extended (the lead) even more,” said Lee head coach Justin Boswell. “(OHS) was doing better in their transition offense than we were in transition defense. We didn’t give ourselves second chance opportunities, we were putting up some air balls and when you’ve got a little bit of a size advantage, they were able to get some of those rebounds.

“We didn’t have a lot of bad shots, but we had enough for them to rebound and outlet and that’s where they really got their separation.”

OHS grew its lead to as much as 22 points in the second half, but a number of Rebel players left their mark on the night with some hustle plays. Boswell said he was pleased of his team’s effort for the full 32 minutes.

“In the second half, I was proud of our effort and we made some plays,” Boswell said. “We played much more cleanly in the second half and I was proud that we were seeing some guys emerge. Jaythan did some really good things, Karl (Taylor) did some really good things on both ends of the floor. Mykai played probably one of the best games he’s had in the last month, Cevonte (Eaden) hit a couple (3-pointers). That’s huge.

“I don’t ever want to celebrate a loss, but I was proud of their effort. Mentally they stayed in it and played hard with a good attitude against a really good team.”